TV Land has long been a destination for nostalgic TV viewers seeking reruns of the black-and-white stage sets that defined some part of their past. And while during the day the network remains the place to catch your favorite episodes of Gunsmoke or The Golden Girls, the primetime headliners today are TV Land’s original programs: the generation-shifting heroine of Younger; the pastor-impersonator on Impastor; the raucous blend of humor, family and food on The Jim Gaffigan Show.

With this shift in programming comes a new look for the evolving network, a more modern and authentic logo and visual package tailored to appeal to the Gen-Xers who increasingly make up TV Land’s viewership.

“Gen X-ers are a no-BS type of group that really doesn’t like to be marketed to. We had to create a new identity based on a new way of thinking. It was all about changing the voice. We had to speak clearly and directly to the audience with a little more of a sarcastic tone and attitude than we had in the past” said Michael Waldron, vice president and creative director of art and design at TV Land.

The fresh content is an extension of this rebranding and an acknowledgment that Gen-X’s TV show preferences are unique from those of Baby Boomers. “Gen X wants to lean in to their shows, be challenged and surprised. They reject formulas and familiar tropes, a 30-minute sitcom that guarantees a happy ending does not connect or inspire them,” said Kim Rosenblum, executive vice president of marketing and creative at TV Land.

TV Land’s new logo is the first redesign for the network. While the previous logo symbolized the nostalgic charm of a retro television and portrayed an all-American brand personality, the new, dimensional logo is edgy and designed to work as a physical object or sticker that can be placed over digital content. “Visually, we created a handmade personality with custom handwritten typography,” said Waldron. “Gen Xers are the first DIY demo, so we wanted the new logo to reflect that.”

Check out all the new imagery and a few show highlights in the video below:

]]>http://blog.viacom.com/2015/07/not-your-parents-tv-land/feed/0http://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Brenna-Scully-Photo-100x100.jpghttp://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/01-280x200.jpgComedy Central Leads Viacom’s 31 Emmy Nominationshttp://blog.viacom.com/2015/07/comedy-central-leads-viacoms-31-emmy-nominations/
http://blog.viacom.com/2015/07/comedy-central-leads-viacoms-31-emmy-nominations/#commentsSat, 18 Jul 2015 03:31:40 +0000http://blog.viacom.com/?p=7884Viacom’s peers in the television industry have recognized our brands’ great work, delivering 31 Emmy nominations. Comedy Central earned a whopping 26 nominations, including four of the five nominated series in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series category.

Check out the nominations below, watch the nominations replay, and tune in Sunday, Sept. 20 to watch the awards live on Fox.

]]>http://blog.viacom.com/2015/07/comedy-central-leads-viacoms-31-emmy-nominations/feed/0http://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Stuart-Winchester-100x100.jpghttp://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Emmys-280x200.jpgJim Gaffigan Brings Original Laughs to TV Landhttp://blog.viacom.com/2015/07/jim-gaffigan-brings-original-laughs-to-tv-land/
http://blog.viacom.com/2015/07/jim-gaffigan-brings-original-laughs-to-tv-land/#commentsWed, 08 Jul 2015 15:08:08 +0000http://blog.viacom.com/?p=7813You may have caught episodes of TV Land’s critically acclaimed Youngerstarring Sutton Foster and Hillary Duff earlier this year. This evolution from the home of classic TV to a go-to spot for new, funny, fresh original series continues with the debut of The Jim Gaffigan Show. This new comedy explores comedian Jim Gaffigan’s struggle to find a balance between fatherhood, stand-up comedy and an insatiable appetite. Get a taste of the show with the clip below. The series premieres Wednesday, July 15 at 10 p.m. eastern/9 p.m. central.

“There’s so much that we’re excited about in the year to come,” they write. According to the note, they’re particularly excited for more storytelling. More connection. More inclusion. More growth. “Creativity is the connective tissue of it all.” You can read the particulars reprinted from the note, below.

We’ll invest more than ever this year in telling great stories and entertaining our audiences on every screen. We have a portfolio that creates shows as different and great as TV Land’s forthcoming Younger, from the legendary Darren Star, VH1’s upcoming 90s nostalgia comedy Hindsight, and Spike’s bold new scripted fare like Tut and Red Mars. We create characters that impact audiences on any screen. Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob Square Pants will get another bite at the big screen with Paramount Animation’s first movie The SpongeBob Movie:Sponge Out of Water in February. And a beloved Paramount film will find new life on Nickelodeon when the School of Rock television series, executive produced by the incomparable Richard Linklater, comes to the network in the spring.

CONNECTION

As we create great entertainment, we create new ways to connect our audiences with our work. MTV’s “Always On” project is boldly reimagining how television can reflect the culture conversation and social media in real-time. We’re building on our legacy of being first to market with innovative distribution partners, from Sony’s new internet-based television service to Verizon’s forthcoming mobile video service. And we’re building our own, exceptional products, from the new Nick Jr. app and its stunning design for digital native kids, to the CMT Artists app, which connects fans with the tidal wave of young country music talent.

INCLUSION

In early 2015, BET will premiere miniseries “The Book of Negroes,” an adaptation of the heartwrenching novel about a slave’s journey to freedom.

Logo’s first-ever Trailblazers was a powerful tribute to LGBTQ pioneers that will return in 2015 and provide a strong banner tentpole for the network as it continues its evolution. In January, BET will debut Book of Negroes, a miniseries adaptation of the acclaimed 2007 novel on a woman’s harrowing escape from slavery. Finally, Comedy Central is reinventing late-night again with The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore, a long overdue platform for diverse perspectives in the 11 o’clock hour. Can’t wait for that one. In a world in which can feel alternately more tolerant and polarized than ever, we’re reflecting the diversity of our audiences better than ever.

GROWTH

Viacom expands it reach across the globe. This week, the MTV European Music Awards aired live from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.

International growth is the great frontier of our business. The acquisition of Channel 5 was a big victory for Viacom, and it’s inspiring and moving to see how excited its employees are to join our family. Great things will come there as we bring them into the fold, and amplify the impact of their great creative work. Paramount Channel continues to bring the world’s greatest film library to audiences around the world, and launches in the promise-laden Latin American market this month. Spike is going global. And then there’s the personal growth we all aspire to and we want you to achieve here at Viacom. The employee survey has been an incredibly helpful resource for us, and we want to ramp up our professional development efforts in 2015, from the continuation of our Internal Mobility program, to efforts like our Viacom Hackathons in New York to Viacom International Media Networks’ innovation competition, The Pitch, which attracted 117 submissions from teams of employees around the globe.

So starts this beautiful photo essay in the New York Times Magazine, “Old Masters at the Top of their Game.” The piece profiles accomplished men and women in their 80s and 90s — from Tony Bennett (88) and Frank Gehry (86) to Senator Dianne Feinstein (81) and our very own Betty White (92), iconic actress and star of TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland. Capturing striking environmental portraits, the essay also features Q&As with the octogenarians and nonagenarians — brief but full of wisdom.

“We’ve made age such a terrible thing that the younger people think that just getting to that age is awful,” White says in her Q&A. “But if you’re blessed with good health, and I am, and I never take it for granted, you can get by with murder! You get spoiled rotten.”

Head here for White’s photo, which was taken on the set of Hot in Cleveland, and to check out the other inspiring profiles.

Last week, the Ad Lab at IAB held a town hall on the future of apps with a group of media and technology leaders, including Viacom’s own Pete Chelala, VP of Mobile Advertising & Products.

“Our job is to put the content that [our viewers] love on the screens they can’t live without,” Chelala said.

Check out the video above for some of his thoughts on generational differences in app preferences (i.e. the “now” mentality of the Millennials); app discovery; and how you have to always be a student to stay current in the mobile world.

]]>http://blog.viacom.com/2014/06/viacoms-pete-chelala-discusses-future-of-mobile-at-iab-ad-lab/feed/0http://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Daina-Photo-100x100.jpghttp://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/pete-280x200.jpgCongrats to NAACP Image Award Nominees, Cheers to Inclusion!http://blog.viacom.com/2014/01/congrats-to-naacp-image-award-nominees-cheers-to-inclusion/
http://blog.viacom.com/2014/01/congrats-to-naacp-image-award-nominees-cheers-to-inclusion/#commentsTue, 14 Jan 2014 17:51:52 +0000http://blog.viacom.com/?p=6202At Viacom, promoting diversity and inclusion through our creative endeavors as well as in our workplace is an everyday priority. So, it’s a great honor to see so many Viacom networks and programs represented on the roster of nominees for the NAACP’s 45th Image Awards. Congrats to BET — in the lead with 19 nominations in the TV categories; TV Land’s “The Soul Man,” in the running for three awards; Nickelodeon for three between “Dora The Explorer” and “2013 HALO Awards”; VH1 for “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story”; and Comedy Central for “Key & Peele.” And of course congrats to the many people and teams that make these awards a possibility.

The table read kicked off the reunion as “Hot in Cleveland” cast member Betty White, recurring guest star Georgia Engel and their former “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” castmates Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman and Mary Tyler Moore herself got together to read through the script for the first time. It was pure joy from the first moment.

“Did you ever laugh ‘till you cry? That’s been happening a lot,” said Harper.

And the “Hot in Cleveland” cast was having just as much fun.

“We’ve had a ball this week! It’s just been one of those weeks where we’ve been able to sit back and just watch the magic happen,” said “Hot in Cleveland” star Jane Leeves. Valerie Bertinelli added, “It’s pretty surreal to be on the old ‘MTM’ lot with the ‘MTM’ cast.”

In the episode, Elka (Betty White) and Mamie Sue (Georgia Engel) decide to get their bowling team back together, aptly named GLOB: the Gorgeous Ladies of Bowling. The team, which includes Elka, Mamie Sue, Diane (Mary Tyler Moore), Peg (Cloris Leachman) and Angie (Valerie Harper), had a falling out decades ago after their championship season went to their heads.

On tape night, the five former co-stars were reunited on the sitcom stage for the first time in 30 years, and the studio audience gave a long standing ovation.

“It’s been so wonderful,” said Harper. “It’s been so full of life and joy and love and fun!”

As Mary Tyler Moore noted, “No matter where you put us, we’re going to continue to be ourselves, and interact as only you can when you’ve been together for a long, long time.”

As the 2013 Primetime Emmy nominations are announced, we’d like to give big congratulations to the brainchildren behind Viacom’s Emmy-nominated programs… and this year there were many.

Comedy Central, for one, is on Emmy-nomination fire, with a record-breaking 18 nominations that span The Daily Show (now a 50-time Emmy nominee, 18-time winner), The Colbert Report, South Park, Workaholics, and Key & Peele, as well as its multi-platform efforts and pro-social initiative that drove “Night of Too Many Stars.”

Congrats to Comedy Central, as well as to Nickelodeon and TV Land for representing us with their sharp mix of programming. We’re proud and thrilled to see all your hard work recognized, and cannot wait to see what Jon and Stephen will brew up for the next Emmy awards show.

When Laura Hobson found out she won a walk-on role on TV Land’s hit sitcom “Hot in Cleveland,” she was shocked beyond words.

“I was laughing because I didn’t know what would come of this and I was overwhelmed by everyone calling and emailing me about the news,” said Hobson, Coordinator, Integrated Marketing for Viacom Entertainment Group.

Hobson, who won the unique opportunity at the network’s annual All Hands meeting, soon learned that she wasn’t the only special guest — the episode also featured guest stars Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Jean Smart.

“When I arrived at rehearsal, Betty (White), Carol and Jean were going over their lines in casual clothes,” said Hobson. “It was wild. I walk in and look over and right in front of me they are working on a scene and going through it. It was in that moment that it really hit me that I was witnessing people known for their craft and really practicing and working on it.”

In her scene, Hobson was seated behind White and Burnett in a bar, giving her a first-hand experience of watching the two Emmy®Award-winning actresses interact. During rehearsal, she even had the opportunity to watch Conway give Burnett a hard time about her lines. “It was just great to see them interact as people, peers and friends, especially since there is such a background there professionally and personally.”

After rehearsal, Hobson went to prep, change, and pick up her cousin — a huge Golden Girls fan — who would be attending the taping with her. Since she wasn’t scheduled till the last scene, Hobson watched most of the taping from the Green Room, where she was pleasantly surprised to meet Burnett, who was spending some downtime there was well.

Once it was call time, Hobson took her place with the other extras. “I’ve never done this before, so I asked the extras next to me ‘do I really speak out loud or do I mime this conversation?’ to which they laughed at me,” recalled Hobson. “Thankfully, they taught me the ropes and everyone nailed their scenes.”

After a long, exciting day, Hobson’s scene wrapped and the taping was over. But not before she had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the entire “Hot in Cleveland” cast and guest stars for a post-show group photo. The photo is one she will cherish for many years to come. “I couldn’t sleep that night. I called my family after the show and kept trying to replay what had just happened.”

While it was a day Hobson will never forget, she is nervous to see the episode air. “I’ll probably have my hands in front of eyes the entire time the first time I watch the episode.” While she may be covering her eyes, the rest of TV Land will be tuning in to see their friend and coworker make her television debut.

TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland returns on Wednesday, June 19 at 10pm ET with a LIVE episode.